Newspapers had reported, among other things, that Lindner had held a video greeting for a private customer bank in May 2022
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin After reports of allegations against Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) in connection with a real estate loan, the Berlin public prosecutor sees “no initial suspicion of criminal behavior”. With this finding, the anti-corruption department closed an investigation on Thursday, the public prosecutor said on Friday.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the examination resulted in “neither an initial suspicion of bribery of MPs (…) nor of accepting an advantage, which is in any case remote”. There was also no evidence that the loan was linked to expectations of future decisions or the honoring of previous decisions, not even with a view to “creating general goodwill”.
Newspapers had reported, among other things, that Lindner had held a video greeting for a private customer bank in May 2022. Then he got another loan from the same bank. Lindner himself had rejected allegations. His lawyer and the Ministry of Finance said greetings on anniversaries are part of a minister’s job.